Symbolic Reality

 July 8, 2022

In yesterday’s musings, I made the comment that the Genesis story is a mixture of symbolism and straightforward narrative, and that it can be hard at times to discern which is being presented (I should point out that symbolism is no less true than realism; they are two ways of seeing life). I was asked a simple, but important question: “What part of Genesis is symbolism?” There are many examples, but I will give one of the clearest that is found in the very narrative on which I had been commenting.

In chapter three, verses 14-16, we read:

“So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.””

The curse begins with something straightforward, something easily observable; snakes crawl on their bellies. The serpent speaks no more, but slithers across the ground. Then come these words describing the disgust with which snakes are almost universally regarded—“enmity between you and the woman.” God isn’t finished; he continues, “between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” With these words, we have slipped from mere description of how snakes are regarded into the realm of symbolism and typology. The bruising of the head and heel describe not only the serpent’s strike and the human response, but point to Jesus’ death on the cross. 

Upon the cross, Jesus was bruised in the heel. The devil thought he had struck a fatal blow, but Jesus was only wounded; three days later, he arose from the grave, and in doing so, struck Satan a mortal blow. The Tempter’s head was bruised, and he will ultimately succumb to that bruising.

We are awaiting the day. He writhes in raging agony, knowing his days are numbered. The blow to his head is fatal, but he is determined to destroy as many as he can before he finally succumbs. In the meantime, we wait, and wonder why it is taking so long. God tells us in 2 Peter: 

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” —II Peter 3:8-9

That day is coming when that to which the symbol points becomes a discernible reality. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”